Gutters are normally secured to the fascia board that extends downward from the outer edge of the roof portion of a residence or other building on which the gutters are installed. Installation of the gutters in this location has presented several problems that have been recognized, but have been unsolved, for many years. The present invention meets and overcomes all the problems that have long been faced by those installing roof gutters on residences and other buidings. p The conventional method of installing a gutter is for one or two workers to grasp the gutter and hold it in place while nails are hammered into the fascia board to secure the gutter to the building. The fact that the gutter protrudes outward from the building means that these hammer blows must be struck from above the gutter. The space in which the hammering can be done is further limited by the fact that the roof shingles and the flashing associated with the roof usually extend a considerable distance outward from the building, just above the location where the nails are to be hammered to secure the gutter.
The resulting cramped quarters for hammering the gutter-supporting nails make it extremely awkward for a worker, especially when working at the top of a ladder, to reach into the space that is severely constricted as just described. Moreover, if the hammer blows are not confined exactly to the indicated restricted space, the roof shingles or the flashing may be damaged.
Svajgl U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,182 addressed some, but not all, of these problems. That device is intended for use only with the spike and ferrule type of attachment of gutters. As seen from FIG. 3 of the patent, with this type of attachment the head of the spike being hammered is located at the front of the gutter instead of at the rear, and is entirely clear of the shingle and flashing overhang above the gutter. Thus the Svajgl device does nothing about the above described problems of inaccessibility and danger of damage to the roof overhang when shorter nails are used with an associated hanger to support the gutter, as is the case with a great many installations.
Svajgl's solution to the problems of gutter installation is very different from the present invention. Rather than a hand-held support, a fixed (although temporary) support is provided for the gutter that is being installed. As is seen from the disclosure in the Svagjl patent, the use of that device involves three extra steps, none of which is required with applicant's invention, in order to secure the gutter to the building. These three extra steps are the pounding of nail 48, the pounding of nail 50, and the hanging of inner frame member 20 of support 10 on those nails. Then, because support 10 is fixed to the building during use and must be removed after each spike is driven in, this removal is a fourth extra step. All four extra steps are not only inconvenient but are time-consuming as well.
Finally, when the Svajgl device is removed, nails 48 and 50 must be left in place--partially protruding from the fascia board--behind the installed gutter. (The reason the head and a small part of the shank of each nail 48 and 50 must protrude from the fascia board is in order that member 20 of support 10 can be hung on the nails in the manner disclosed in the patent, with the shanks of the nails removably seated in elongated slots 36 and 40 located in inner frame member 10.) After the nailing of the gutter to the building is completed, the gutter presses tightly against the building and therefore also against the two protruding nails. This increases the inconvenience of removing support 10, for the gutter must be pulled away from the building momentarily to allow inner frame member 20 of support 10 to be slid up and then out over the protruding nails. Moreover, with the passage of time the pressing of the nail heads against the rear wall of the gutter will result in wear in that wall, as the gutter rubs against the nail heads as it expands and contracts during extreme changes in outside temperatures. This wear will increase the risk of rusting with a galvanized steel gutter, or the actual wearing of a hole in a gutter formed of thin sheet aluminum.
Guides utilizing a nail-driving plunger or pin, such as disclosed in Joy U.S. Pat. No. 1,575,582, have been known for a great many years. However, in spite of the very troublesome problems that through all those years have plagued workers installing gutters on houses and other buildings, no one so far as applicant is aware has previously combined those early nail-driving devices with the other elements used by applicant to produce the present invention.